Free line editing tool
This free line editing tool reads the chapter you paste and reports the patterns a line editor would mark, counted and listed with examples from your own text. It checks eight things: adverbs, filler words, filter words, overworked dialogue tags, possible passives, sentences over 30 words, paragraphs that open with the same word, and three-word phrases you keep repeating. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded. It counts patterns and can't judge whether a pattern is a mistake, so treat every number as a prompt to read. On a 196-word test scene it marked 27 things; after a hand revision it marked 3.
Paste some text to see the report.
How to use the free line editing tool
A chapter gives you counts you can act on, though the tool will take a full manuscript if you paste one.
The total shows how much there is, not where.
Short samples swing it.
A chapter far above the rest usually has a habit worth a look.
The report is read only. It never changes your text.
What the free line editing tool checks
Adverbs
Words ending in "ly" and longer than four letters, minus a list of words that only look like adverbs (only, family, early, likely, lovely, daily and similar) and minus the filler words, so nothing is counted twice. The block shows a rate per 1,000 words. The tool's hint calls under ten unremarkable and over twenty-five a sign you're leaning on them.
Filler
Twenty-two words that can usually go unnoticed: just, very, really, quite, actually, basically, simply, literally, somewhat, rather, totally, completely, absolutely, definitely, certainly, suddenly, slightly, perhaps, maybe, somehow, anyway and indeed. The federal plain language guidance on cutting unnecessary words agrees.
Filter words
Eighteen verbs (plus the British spelling of realized) that put a narrator between the reader and the scene: saw, watched, noticed, realized, felt, heard, thought, wondered, knew, decided, seemed, observed, considered, remembered, imagined, sensed, spotted and glimpsed.
Dialogue tags doing too much
Eighteen showy tags: exclaimed, retorted, chuckled, hissed, growled, snapped, quipped, mused, opined, interjected, breathed, grimaced, smirked, laughed, sighed, giggled, barked and purred. "Said" is never flagged.
Possible passives
A form of "be" followed by a past participle: a word ending in "ed" or "en", or a common irregular one such as made, built or sold. Look-alikes such as open, red and then are skipped, but an adjective like "broken" still gets caught, which is why the label says "possible."
Sentences over thirty words
The tool counts them and shows the first three in full, cut at 220 characters. Long isn't wrong. A run of them is the problem.
Repeated paragraph openers
Paragraphs that begin with the same first word as another paragraph in your text.
Echoed phrases
Three-word runs used three or more times that contain at least one word beyond a short list of plain function words. "I came to" turns up as an echo; "of the day" doesn't. It only runs on text over 40 words, and the phrases are listed but not added to "Things marked."
What it doesn't check: grammar, spelling, punctuation, point of view, tone, or phrases such as "began to" and "started to."
How the free line editing tool works behind the report
Words are runs of letters, numbers, apostrophes and hyphens. Sentences end at a period, exclamation mark, question mark or ellipsis that's followed by a capital letter or an opening quote, with abbreviations such as Mr, Dr, etc and e.g. stitched back together. Paragraphs split on blank lines, so paste with one between paragraphs or the openers check has nothing to compare. All matching is lowercase, and a trailing 's is ignored.
"Things marked" is the sum of the seven rows in the side panel: adverbs, filler, filter words, dialogue tags, possible passives, long sentences and repeated openers. Echoed phrases are listed in the report but left out of the total. Every figure counts flagged words, not problem sentences, and one sentence can carry several flags.
The checking script runs inside the page and makes no network request with your text, which is the sensible arrangement for a manuscript nobody has seen yet.
A word list can't read meaning. "She felt the floor shake" and "She felt that she should leave" each get one filter flag, though the first is a fair use and the second is the kind of filtering an editor would trim.
The checking script runs inside the page and makes no network request with your text, which is the sensible arrangement for a manuscript nobody has seen yet.
A worked example: one scene, before and after
We wrote a 196-word scene to look like a typical first draft: a woman finds her kitchen window open and a stranger at the door. We revised it by hand to 130 words, keeping every plot beat, and ran both versions through the tool.
| Measure | First draft (196 words) | Revised (130 words) |
|---|---|---|
| Adverbs | 5 (nervously, quickly, quietly, slowly, softly) | 1 (badly) |
| Filler | 4 (actually, just, really, very) | 0 |
| Filter words | 9 (felt twice, decided, knew, noticed, realized, thought, watched, wondered) | 0 |
| Dialogue tags doing too much | 2 (exclaimed, retorted) | 0 |
| Possible passives | 3 (was dressed, was opened, been made) | 0 |
| Sentences over 30 words | 1 | 0 |
| Repeated paragraph openers | 3 (three paragraphs start with "She") | 2 (two start with "The") |
| Things marked | 27 | 3 |
| Adverbs per 1,000 words | 26 | 8 |
The rows add up: 5 + 4 + 9 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 3 = 27.
Two small changes show the pattern. "She felt a cold wind move across the floor" became "a cold wind moved across the floor." The reader sees the wind without being told she felt it. And "She really did not want to be the woman who called about an open window" became "The sheriff would think she was foolish, calling about an open window," which drops the filler and gives us a character's fear instead of her reluctance.
Reading that table honestly:
- The tool did not flag "the window was open." Open is an adjective, and the passive rule skips it. "Had been made for someone much larger" was flagged as "been made," and the revision kept a version of it on purpose, trimmed to "made for someone much larger."
- The revision is 66 words shorter, so part of the drop is less text. The per-1,000 rate corrects for that: 26 down to 8.
- Three flags left isn't perfection, and two paragraphs opening with "The" is invisible at this length.
How to use the report without flattening your voice
Treat every count as a prompt to read. The chips are the words to search for. Repetition can be deliberate, like a character's verbal habit. Filter words aren't wrong in close narration of perception. They're wrong when they stack, three to a paragraph. If a count falls and the page reads worse, undo the change. Revise for the reader, not for a lower number, and don't chase zero. A chapter with no flags at all often reads stiff. Our guide on how to self-edit your book covers the order of passes.
Repetition can be deliberate, like a character's verbal habit.
Common mistakes with a self-edit report
- Deleting every flagged word. A chapter with no adverbs and no filter words reads robotic.
- Trusting a tiny sample. Our 196-word scene hit 26 adverbs per 1,000 words on just 5 adverbs. Judge the rate on 1,000 words or more.
- Pasting without blank lines. Then "Repeated openers" shows zero and you think the chapter is fine.
- Skipping the long sentences block because long is allowed. It is, until five in a row appear.
- Mistaking it for a copy edit or proofread. It doesn't check spelling, punctuation or grammar.
- Polishing sentences before the structure is settled. If you're still moving scenes, line-level work is wasted. Settle the shape first, with a developmental edit or your own restructure.
Tips by situation
Fiction
Filter words and dialogue tags matter most. Close third person and first person are where filter words stack up, because the narrator is already inside a head. Start with those two blocks, then check openers in action scenes.
Memoir and narrative nonfiction
Verbs such as "remembered" and "realized" are often the whole point of the form, so don't strip them by reflex. Look at repetition, long sentences and openers first. Memoir drifts into long reflective sentences, and that block shows where.
Nonfiction and business books
Passives and long sentences matter most, because readers skim and a buried subject costs them time. Run the same chapter through the readability checker as a second view on sentence length.
Before you send it to a paid editor
Clear the obvious tics first, so the editor's hours go on voice and rhythm instead of thinning adverbs. That's not a way to skip editing. It's a way to get more out of it.
Free tool, grammar checker, AI assistant or human line editor?
| Option | Good for | Won't do |
|---|---|---|
| This free report | Counting sentence-level habits in your own prose, privately, with no sign-up | Fix anything, or understand meaning |
| A grammar checker | Spelling, punctuation and grammar errors | Judge voice; its style advice is generic and often leans toward business English |
| An AI assistant | Quick alternative phrasings | Guarantee it keeps your voice or your meaning; a chat tool sends your text to a third party, so check its data terms before pasting unpublished work |
| A human line editor | Reading voice, rhythm and clarity as a whole, and making judgment calls you accept or reject as tracked changes | Work for free; see the Editorial Freelancers Association rate chart for typical market ranges |
Use the free report first, then decide whether you still need a person.
Related guides on the Author Resources hub
- How to Self-Edit Your Book: the order of passes and what each one catches.
- The Types of Book Editing, Explained: developmental, line, copy and proofreading, side by side.
- How to Find a Book Editor You Can Trust: what to ask for before you pay anyone.
When you want a person to do the line edit
If the report shows more than a tidy-up, our line editing services are the same job done by an editor: sentence by sentence for rhythm, clarity and voice, returned as tracked changes you accept or reject. Our published rate is $0.027 a word, so an 80,000-word book comes to $2,160 (0.027 x 80,000). The minimum is $450 a pass, so any book under about 16,700 words pays the minimum. We read a sample before quoting and will say if the manuscript needs an earlier stage. Payment is half on booking and half on delivery. See all of our published editing rates.
Our published rate is $0.027 a word, so an 80,000-word book comes to $2,160 (0.027 x 80,000).
Questions we get asked
What is a good free editor?
There isn't one, because editing is several jobs. A grammar checker handles spelling and punctuation, a person handles voice and judgment, and for sentence-level habits in your own prose a free line editing tool like this one counts patterns without rewriting a word.
How do I edit a line?
Read the sentence aloud and ask what it has to tell the reader. Cut words that repeat or soften the point, swap a vague verb for a concrete one, and check who is acting. Then read it with the sentences on either side. Keep your own rhythm.
Can I use ChatGPT to edit my writing?
You can, as a second opinion on one passage. It tends to smooth your voice, it can change meaning, and a chat tool sends your text to a third party, which matters for unpublished work. Check its data terms before pasting. This report keeps your text on your own device.
What are some effective AI tools for proofreading and editing?
There are two kinds. Grammar and spelling checkers catch errors; generative assistants rewrite and suggest. Each notices different things, and neither replaces reading the whole manuscript. The comparison table above sets out what each is good for.
Is this free line editing tool really free, and is my text private?
Yes to free, with no sign-up. The page's script processes your text in the browser and never uploads it, and the report disappears when you close the page. We don't store what you paste.
Does the free line editing tool work on a PDF or a Word file?
It takes pasted text only. Open the file, select the chapter, copy and paste. Text copied out of a PDF can arrive with broken line breaks that split paragraphs, so add a blank line between paragraphs before you paste, or the repeated-openers check will count wrongly.
What is the difference between a line edit, a copy edit and a proofread?
A line edit works sentence by sentence on rhythm, clarity and voice. A copy edit checks grammar, consistency and facts. A proofread is the last pass on typeset pages, for typos and bad breaks. Our guide on the types of book editing sets them side by side, and a copy edit comes after the line edit.
How many flags are too many?
There's no pass mark. For adverbs, the tool's own hint calls under ten per 1,000 words unremarkable and over twenty-five a sign you're leaning on them. For everything else, compare the chapters of your own book and look hardest at the highest. Judge by reading, not by the total.
Keep going with the next tools
Once the sentences are tight, try the readability checker for scores and grade levels, the style sheet builder to record your spelling and punctuation choices, and the manuscript formatter when the text is ready to send out.
Tools will only take you so far
Send what you have. Even a half-written manuscript is enough for a reader to tell you what it needs.